


The Senator and the Supervillain

by dillonmania



Category: DCU (Comics), The Flash (Comics)
Genre: Gen, Ghosts, Short One Shot, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-22
Updated: 2014-01-22
Packaged: 2018-01-09 09:51:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1144571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dillonmania/pseuds/dillonmania
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Early misdeeds will sometimes come back to haunt you.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Senator and the Supervillain

**Author's Note:**

> I decided to add a bit to the existing canon. Based on a storyline from the mid-'90s ([here's an introduction to Thomas O'Neill](http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i227/liabrown/ONeill/infuriatingcharm_zpse95ffa04.jpg)). And yes, for some reason Roscoe's ghost could talk to the living via telephone.

Thomas O’Neill sometimes feels like he’s in over his head. Back in his hometown of Central City, he’s well-known, popular, and frequently the centre of attention. It’s always been easy to get things done and look like a golden boy. But as a freshman senator in Washington, he’s almost a nobody to anyone who matters, and is far from his base of power. Work often feels like an uphill slog, and he occasionally drifts into periods of melancholy that are unlike his typical cheery demeanor.

One evening finds him resting after a long day socializing with campaign donors. He enjoys meeting and talking to people, but the day was unusually draining and he almost doesn’t pick up the telephone when it rings. There’s a voice on the line that seems slightly familiar, but he can’t quite place it at first.

“Hello Tom, how are you? It’s Roscoe Dillon.”  
It takes a few moments to remember the name; it was a guy he went to school with. “Roscoe! Good to hear from you!” He pauses slightly. “It’s weird, though, `cause somebody had told me you were dead.”  
“No, they were mistaken,” Roscoe replies stiffly, and his tone sounds displeased. “Obviously.”  
“Yeah, obviously. We haven’t talked since school ended, I guess. I want to apologize for being a jerk to you back in those days,” Thomas says with some sincerity. “I was a lot more immature then, and I feel kind of shitty about it, to be honest. I know I hurt you.”  
“Think nothing of it. It’s entirely inconsequential now,” Roscoe says magnanimously, but there’s a bit of an edge in his voice.

“I see you’re calling from a local number -- you wanna grab lunch sometime? We can catch up on the old days, and talk about what’s going on now. We Central City boys need to stick together!”  
“Campaigning like always, Tom. No, I’m afraid I can’t meet with you, although I wish I could. I suppose I _will_ see you in the near future, however…but you won’t see me.”  
“Huh?” Thomas asks, feeling slightly alarmed by his old classmate’s words and the coldness in his tone. “I said I was sorry.”  
“I’ve never voted for you, and I never will,” Roscoe says abruptly, and hangs up. Thomas is left confused and mildly rattled by the exchange, but soon remembers that Roscoe had always been an odd and socially awkward boy. That was why he’d taunted him, after all. Even if it was wrong, there had always been a reason for it. He decides that he'll reiterate the invitation to lunch if he ever runs into the other man by chance, and then puts the conversation out of his mind.

Roscoe had only been partly correct: he does see Thomas within the week, but Tom sees him too. The senator is killed in a suspicious car accident, and his spirit can only watch helplessly as the ghost of his former schoolmate hovers expectantly over his body. Thomas’ soul lacks the experience and skill to re-possess his own mangled corpse, so he’s relegated to standing forlornly on the sidelines until dragged off to the afterlife. There, he learns that a childhood of bullying left him condemned to the same hell that had previously imprisoned Roscoe. And all he can do is lament that his body has been stolen by his former victim.


End file.
